What is a Doula?
Doula – n. An individual who assists a birthing person during labor and provides support to them, the infant, and the family after childbirth.
Historically, the responsibility of “doula” was that of sisters, mothers, aunties; women who were part of the community and experienced in the journey of pregnancy, birth, and baby care. At The Gathering Place, we are honored to continue that tradition. Before we knew that some choose being a doula as a career, we were doulas to our friends and sisters. We were doulas in service to our community. It is our greatest hope that the families we work with feel the spirit of that intention.
Our doulas offer support for birthing families in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. We attend births in a variety of settings: hospitals, birth centers, and at home. Our services include prenatal care provider consultation, antepartum and birth doula support. Our staff doulas are professionally trained and receive additional education and mentoring to ensure a consistent philosophy and standard of practice. Additionally, the variety of Doulas we offer allows clients to find a perfect match for their individual needs.
Advantages of using our Doulas
Ease of Selection: With a no cost interview appointment and a large staff, we simplify the hiring process.
Strong referral network: Our doulas have access to a wide ranging professional staff at The Gathering Place.
Automatic “back up”: No need to look for reinforcements. The Gathering Place provides back-up staff to ensure coverage for your labor.
Cross training: To provide a more holistic approach, our doulas train in other modalities such as massage, aromatherapy, yoga and photography.
Cost OF DOULA CARE
Our Doula service is made up of Doulas that have been trained through local and/or national organizations and are either working towards certification or are certified. We believe strongly that every person who wants a doula deserves a doula and are proud to offer a range of fees for our doula services. We are committed to supporting families in ALL financial situations. If you have a specific financial need or meet a doula whom you LOVE but can't afford, please let us know and we can discuss options. We can also arrange payment plans if necessary.
Our fees for birth doula services are based on the experience of the doula. All doulas provide the same service and work within the DONA International Standards of Practice. Our doulas are contracted through The Gathering Place and do not work for hospitals, birth centers, or other health care professionals.
Level n/a - Medicaid
Level I - 700-1000 under 50 births
Level II - 1000-1400 51-150 births
Level III - 1401-1800 151-400 births
Level IV - 1800-2100 over 401 births
Level V - 2101-3000 Over 401 births + concierge packages
At this time we do not offer postpartum doula services. However local rates for postpartum doula services tend to range from $25.00-$55.00 dollars per hour.
Our Founder and Program Director offers ongoing mentoring to all our doulas. We provide continuous education and advanced training for our staff with a focus on enhancing the skills needed to provide emotional support, physical support, and informational guidance.
Some of Our Staff Doulas
Our team approach
When meeting doulas please keep in mind that we offer a team approach although you hire a primary doula. We pride ourselves on having the primary doula attend the birth of their matched client 99% of the time. However unexpected situations arise in everyone’s life that may prevent your doula from being available. In these cases we make arrangements to have a backup doula from our staff available to our clients. Please see our staff bios for more information on individual doulas.
If you are considering utilizing the services of a doula of your birth or would like to learn more about the practice of doulas, we invite you to schedule an “All About Doulas” consultation with our Program Director which are scheduled by appointment. During these meetings we discuss everything you need to know including the unique benefits of doula care in South Florida, how to find and interview a doula and the types of support you can expect with doula care. Come with all your questions. This is a free consultation.